Past Film/Video | Contemporary Screen

Shoplifters

(Manbiki kazoku, Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2018)

A family of five jumps into the shallow waves of the ocean

Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Shoplifters is a quiet but powerful tale of a makeshift family living on the margins and reluctantly stealing in order to survive.

After a shoplifting session, Osamu and his son encounter a little girl in the freezing cold. Learning of the girl’s hard life, Osamu’s wife agrees to help take care of her. While the family can barely scrape by financially, they live a happy life until an unforeseen incident reveals hidden secrets and tests their bonds.

The drama is yet another triumph of empathetic, humanist cinema by the great Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda (After the Storm, After Life). As a recent Los Angeles Times review observed, “what makes Kore-eda’s movie so quietly devastating, the work of a master in full command of his art, is that its emotional rewards stem from a deep engagement with the world rather than a retreat from it.” That’s just one reason he’s been a longtime favorite at the Wex. (121 mins., DCP)

Please note: Due to snow the Wexner Center for the Arts is closed on Saturday, January 19, and the Saturday screenings of Shoplifters canceled. A screening has been added on Sunday, January 20, at 3 PM. Ticket holders, please check your email for a communication from Wexner Center for the Arts | Patron Services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause.

"A work of such emotional delicacy and formal modesty that you’re barely prepared when the full force of what it’s doing suddenly knocks you sideways."
A family of five jumps into the shallow waves of the ocean

Shoplifters, image courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

A man and young girl stand in a market

Shoplifters, image courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Two young girls stand along a fence

Shoplifters, image courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

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Past Film/Video

Shoplifters